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Men's Tennis
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Women's Tennis
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| Wednesday, August 22 |
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| Sampras beats Peya in under an hour Associated Press | |||
COMMACK, N.Y. -- Pete Sampras took another step toward
ending his 15-tournament title drought with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over
Alexander Peya in the second round of the Hamlet Cup on Wednesday.
The 29-year-old Sampras, who holds the record with 13 Grand Slam
titles, needed just 56 minutes to beat the 21-year-old Austrian,
who began the year playing in Futures events.
The third-seeded Sampras, who is in this hard-court tournament as
a wild card, credited his 6-4, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (4) first-round victory
over Olivier Rochus with helping him advance.
"I was a little rusty on Tuesday and the fact I had a tough
match made me a lot sharper today and gave me more confidence,"
Sampras said. "My serve was definitely improved and I'm getting
used to the court. I got better as the match went on. I just hope I
can keep going."
Sampras, who dominated the match by winning 26 of 29 first-serve
points, broke Peya three times.
"He is a shot-maker," Sampras said of Peya, "but tonight his
wheels came off in the second set."
In Friday night's quarterfinals, Sampras will play Felix
Mantilla, who beat Guillermo Canas 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 Wednesday.
Sampras isn't looking ahead to next week's U.S. Open.
"I know everybody's focused on next week but all I'm thinking
about is hopefully winning five matches here," he said.
In other second-round matches Wednesday, sixth-seeded Tommy Haas
defeated Tommy Robredo 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-2; and Jonas Bjorkman
advanced when Galo Blanco retired with an injured left knee after
losing the first 5-7.
Mantilla, who earned his way into the Hamlet Cup field by
winning three qualifying matches, has beaten Canas in all three of
their meetings. Canas won his first ATP title at Casablanca in
April.
"I'm motivated," the 26-year-old Mantilla said. "What I try
to do is enjoy every game and every match because I never know when
my career will come to an end. Last year I had surgery on my
shoulder in August and didn't play again until this year.
"Many players are in this tournament to prepare for the U.S.
Open. For me, I'm here to raise my ranking," said Mantilla, who is
69th in the world heading into the year's final Grand Slam which
starts next week. "The Hamlet means as much to me as a Grand Slam
does to the top players. I want to get back into the top 25."
Mantilla, who won his first ATP title in 1996, reached No. 16
the next year. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories | |
ALSO SEE Wednesday's results Mantilla upsets Wimbledon champ Ivanisevic at Hamlet | |
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